For some numbers:

One graph even has California’s animal feed water usage so large it actually goes off the chart at 15.2 million acre-feet of water (it is distorted to make it fit as it notes). For some comparison, the blue water usage of animal feed is larger than all of almonds water usage of ~2 million acre-feet of water

https://pacinst.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/ca_ftprint_full_report3.pdf#page=25

EDIT:

If the image isn’t loading for you, here’s a direct link: https://i.imgur.com/EjVps9Z.png

EDIT 2:

Also worth noting is that per liter, dairy milk requires 628.2 L of freshwater vs almond milk requiring 371.46 L of freshwater. And if you use something like oat milk instead that gets you to 48.24 L

https://ourworldindata.org/environmental-impact-milks

  • vegivamp@feddit.nlEnglish
    181·
    2 years ago

    It undeniably does, but what would be interesting is a comparison of how much water is needed per liter of milk and various substitutes.

  • Dick Justice@lemmy.worldEnglish
    11·
    2 years ago

    So true. And as a sidenote, it’s so pathetic when the (usual suspects) bust out with their tired whataboutisms and dont put just the tiniest bit of effort into researching it, even a little, to see if it’s true. Heaven forbid they might have to actually change their stances under the constant flow of contradictory evidence to the bullshittery they peddle.

    • pizza_rolls@kbin.social
      5·
      2 years ago

      I mean any switch is doing something. People who try to switch everything completely all at once end up failing a lot because it’s overwhelming.

      There are some good almond and cashew cheeses though, and now they can make non animal whey that is chemically equivalent to dairy whey… So identical cheese is coming. They already have identical non animal cream cheese and ice cream

      • CraigeryTheKid@beehaw.org
        1·
        2 years ago

        yeah I’m not sure what I can do about milk/cheese. We’ve actually been mostly beef & pork free (from grocery) for several years, replacing with poultry, beans, and some fish.

        but milk? man that’s tough. we have kids, and we go through a lot of milk. oat milk would be expensive as a 1:1 replacer. small steps!

        • pizza_rolls@kbin.social
          3·
          2 years ago

          If you don’t do any meatless meals I highly recommend it for saving money. Our grocery bill would be insane right now if we ate as much meat as we used to. My go to is stir fry with an egg on top or a soup/stew. Dont even miss the meat cause it’s so flavorful even without it

  • query@lemmy.worldEnglish
    4·
    2 years ago

    Animal feed is a huge category, vs. almonds. Almonds registering on that scale is what’s so shocking about it.

    Edit: Not that it isn’t wasteful, if you need extra feed besides grazing, you’re in trouble ecologically.

    • pizza_rolls@kbin.social
      141·
      2 years ago

      Record droughts

      The end of the entire human race due to climate change

      Before that, climate change destroying your house or access to food

    • usernamesAreTrickyOP
      1·
      2 years ago

      Animal feed is one of the main users of water of the colorado river which is drying up. Large amounts of people depend on that river for their drinking water

      Correspondingly, our hydrologic modelling reveals that cattle-feed irrigation is the leading driver of flow depletion in one-third of all western US sub-watersheds; cattle-feed irrigation accounts for an average of 75% of all consumptive use in these 369 sub-watersheds. During drought years (that is, the driest 10% of years), more than one-quarter of all rivers in the western US are depleted by more than 75% during summer months (Fig. 2 and Supplementary Fig. 2) and cattle-feed irrigation is the largest water use in more than half of these heavily depleted rivers

      https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1064&context=wffdocs

      in terms of things like emissions, it’s important to reduce meat and dairy consumption to meet climate goals as well

      To have any hope of meeting the central goal of the Paris Agreement, which is to limit global warming to 2°C or less, our carbon emissions must be reduced considerably, including those coming from agriculture. Clark et al. show that even if fossil fuel emissions were eliminated immediately, emissions from the global food system alone would make it impossible to limit warming to 1.5°C and difficult even to realize the 2°C target. Thus, major changes in how food is produced are needed if we want to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement.

      (emphasis mine)

      https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aba7357

    • xradeon@lemmy.one
      1·
      2 years ago

      The Colorado river that runs from Colorado through Utah, Arizona, Nevada, and California (and lets not forget Mexico as well) is basically almost dry. It’s the life blood river for large swaths of area in those states. If it goes dry, beyond all of the SoCal farms not being able to get water, many millions of people will not be able to get drinking water.